Welcome to the inaugural Hometown Headlines post, a new bi-weekly news roundup at Dumbo NYC!

This week, it seems that Dumbo will be having a green Christmas. On Monday, members of Community Board 2’s Parks Committee gave the ok on plans to redesign Bridge Park 2. The park is currently almost entirely concrete. The plan is to un-pave paradise and turn the park into a verdant playground with artwork throughout.

Speaking of municipal improvements, Brooklyn Heights Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, the self-styled “Queen of Gowanus,” says that the plan to bury the Gowanus Expressway — creating an underground tunnel from 3rd Avenue to the Harbor, and connecting from there to the BQE — is nearly complete.

The fact that the wheels are turning on that tunnel might be welcome news, since the Brooklyn-Queens Connector (BQX), the proposed streetcar that will run from Astoria to Sunset Park with stops in Vinegar Hill, Dumbo and Brooklyn Heights, is already behind schedule.